SWC 8, NVL 6 … beyond the bottom line

The imaginary scoreboard at the end of the day Oct. 19 read something like this: South-West Conference 8, Naugatuck Valley League 6.

Valleyites wept. Those from the greater Fairfield County area rejoiced. Unattached spectators posed the same question: Does this mean the SWC is better than the NVL?

Well, not really. This year’s NVL-SWC Challenge confirmed what we have thought of the relationship between the two leagues—they’re on even footing.

But wait, you say. The SWC won eight of the 14 games! How can the leagues be even? Well, first off, the competition was one game from being a tie. It’s not like it was a giant landslide of supremacy. But that’s not the reason this deserves a wee bit of attention.

See, the NVL’s three best teams (Ansonia, Woodland and Naugatuck) won their games convincingly. The SWC’s three best teams (Newtown, Joel Barlow and Brookfield) won their games convincingly. Unfortunately, because the matchups in this year’s competition were based on the past two years instead of the expected strength of teams this year, we didn’t get many games between squads of similar caliber.

Had I been granted the almighty power of the scheduler’s pen, here are the matchups we all would have wanted to see based on how good each squad is in 2013 (along with the team I would have pegged as the favorite in each):

NVL

SWC

Favorite

Ansonia

Newtown

Ansonia

Woodland

Joel Barlow

Woodland

Naugatuck

Brookfield

Naugatuck

Wolcott

Masuk

Masuk

Derby

Bethel

Bethel

Holy Cross

Pomperaug

Holy Cross

Seymour

Oxford

Oxford

St. Paul

New Fairfield

New Fairfield

Wilby

Weston

Weston

Watertown

New Milford

New Milford

Kennedy

Stratford

Stratford

Torrington

Bunnell

Bunnell

Crosby

Notre Dame-Fairfield

Crosby

Sacred Heart

Immaculate

Sacred Heart

So, what? The SWC still ends up with eight favorites out of 14 games. Yes, but the top three matchups would all have the NVL teams as slight favorites in my book—we have to weigh the quality at the top more than the parity through the bottom, right? I would, anyway.

Hopefully we get a little more effort and finesse put into making the NVL-SWC Challenge next year, and we don’t just settle with the matchups determined a full two years before the games will be played. We can do better than that.

Why do we need to do better? There’s so much potential in these crossover games—look what happened then the SCC and the FCIAC got together back in Week 1. Those games were overall pretty darned good, and they matched up quality programs against quality programs.

When Ansonia beat Masuk on Thursday night, those folks who enjoy doubting the Chargers hopped onto Twitter and blogs and started with their downplaying of Ansonia’s win. Masuk is always overrated, they said. Masuk is down this year, they clamored. Until you beat somebody good, you don’t matter, they crowed.

Of course the Panthers aren’t as good as they have consistently been over the last decade and a half, but they’re certainly better than half of Ansonia’s league schedule. Had the Chargers and Newtown been scheduled, though, we would have enjoyed a matchup between a pair of legitimate top-six teams that could have quieted some of the Ansonia-isn’t-that-good chatter. Not that those opinions are especially relevant, but they’re annoying enough to catch a little attention.

2 thoughts on “SWC 8, NVL 6 … beyond the bottom line”

Kyle, with all due respect, one year does not a matchup make. Year in and year out, the SWC is superior to the NVL from top to bottom. Period. That said, Ansonia has always been a powerhouse, regardless of whatever league they played in. I realize you have to cater to the NVL writing for a Waterbury paper but be fair. This carries over to your reporting of other sports as well. In fact, during softball season, this paper’s reporting barely acknowledges the existence of other leagues, let alone those in close proximity to your coverage area.

The lower parts of the SWC are usually stronger than the NVL, absolutely. The depth in the top half of each league is very, very similar — especially this year. Take a look at the top half of each league: